Der, Die, or Das - Tips, rules, and tricks

An overview to help you get better equipped in dealing with the articles on German nouns.

You won’t need to memorise the gender of every single word. There are a ton of tips, tricks, and rules that will help you cover a great deal of words.

Word endings (suffix)

Word endings is one of those tricks. When a word ends on a certain character set, you know what gender it is. Be alert tho, because like always in German, there are exceptions, but those will come later (the exceptions will have to be learned by heart. For this, the Article Guru app is your best friend!)

DER

Words ending on the following characters (almost) always are masculine (der).

-ant

der Musikant

-ast

der Kontrast

-är

der Milionär

-ent

der Kontinent

-er

der Moter

-en

der Garten

-eur

der Friseur

-ig

der Honig

-iker

der Alkoholiker

-ismus

der Optimismus

-ist

der Spezialist

-ling

der Frühling

-loge

der Psychologe

-ner

der Rentner

-oph

der Philosoph

-or

der Generator

-ör

der Likör

-tor

der Direktor

DIE

Words ending on the following characters are (almost) always feminine (die).

-ade

Die Chocolade

-age

Die Garage

-anz

Die Eleganz

-enz

Die Intelligenz

-ei

Die Bäckerei

-falt

Die Falt

-heit

Die Gezundheit

-ie

Die Fantasie

-ik

Die Grammatik

-in

Die Studentin

-ine

Die Machine

-ion

Die version

-ive

Die Alternative

-keit

Die Fähighkeit

-schaft

Die Freundschaft

-sis

Die Dosis

-tät

Die Universität

-thek

Die Bibliothek

-unft

Die Auskunft

-ung

Die Rechnung

-ur

Die Kultur

TipNote that if you have to guess, most words ending on “-e” are feminine.

DAS

Words ending on the following characters are (almost) always neuter (das).

-chen

das Mädchen

-em

das System

-ett

das Bett

-ial

das Matrial

-lein

das Fraulein

-ma

das Thema das Schema

-ment

das Dokument das Supplement

-nis

das Gedächtnis

-o

das Auto

-sal

das Schiksal

-tum

das Eigentum das Schippertum

-um

das Universum das Album das Datum

Tip Nouns with the prefix Ge- often are neuter too.

das Gebirge (mountain range)

das Geschäft (shop/business)

das Gewächs (plant/growth

Semantic reasons

There are more rules and constants that can help you determine the gender of a noun.

DER

The following word-groups, and noun-types that all are masculine.

Empty tap (to hide)

This tap is to have the accordion closed

Male functions/roles/jobs

In the top 300 most common nouns, you will find these very often. Often, when the gender of the person in unknown or not relevant, this version is used.

Tip! Diminutives do not changes in plural (the article just changes todie).

Colours

das Grau (grey)

das Weiß (white)

das Schwarz (black)

das Rot (red)

das Rosa (pink)

das Grün (green)

das Orange (orange)

das Blau (blue)

das Braun (brown)

Watch out!die Farbe

Nouns derived from infinitive verbs

das Essen (the eating / the food)

das Schreiben (the writing)

das Tanzen (the dancing)

das Rauchen (the smoking)

das Schwimmen (the swiming)

Nouns derived from adjectives

– das Gute (the good)– das Böse (the bad)

Article Guru to learn faster

Article Guru is an application for your mobile phone that is specially designed to help you learn the genders of German nouns. Through a simple and playful interface we help you to learn effectively. More »